In the last few blogs, I’ve mentioned that I’m not a big fan of people starting a website or taking their business online until they’ve built a solid foundation for the service they want to deliver.

For example, in a recent video I talked about the 3 things you need in place to start a business in a week and the things you DON’T need to have in place.

Today I want to focus on how to actually take your business online!

In fact, we’re going to focus on how to get your first 500 email subscribers, without even having a website.

The website is the least important thing in this entire equation (and is often a huge distraction) so we’re going to do all these steps without it.

Want to learn how to get your first 500 email subscribers without a website? Click play:

#1 Create a compelling opt in offer

This is an important feature to building your online audience.

Many businesses have multiple opt in offers to entice people to sign up for their mailing list. You’ll notice that I have an opt in offer for almost every post – including this post!

The opt in offer is so important because it’s the entry point to your funnel and will affect every other step in this process.

You want this to show people exactly what you do and help them take the first step towards what you’d help them do when they’re working with you.

It should be uber specific to your signature service and give them a taste of how you can solve the problem they’re struggling with.

I’ve created a tool to help you create just the right opt-in for your audience which you can grab here:

Here are a few types of opt-ins you can create that are working right now:

• Diagnostic tool – quiz, questionaire, a form they fill out that will tell them where they are right now. This helps them get clear on the actual problem they have and where they are at right now. When they are clear about that they can see the gap between where they are now and where they want to be.
• Take action – Create something that will prompt them to take specific action and get immediate results.
• Basic training – If you do something a little more complex, start with an essential part of the process that will get them ready for the rest of your content and services.

#2 Capture leads for your offer

Once you have an opt in offer, it’s time to create a landing page where people can sign up to receive it! This is where we’re replacing a website, for now, to get people on your mailing list.

I love, use, and recommend Leadpages for building your landing pages to capture leads. This is something I recommend using and it’s a lot cheaper, faster than a website.

This is where you’ll send people to get your opt in offer whether it’s on social media, at a networking event, or to your friends, you’ll have a URL to give them.

#3 Deliver the offer

Once you’ve created the compelling offer and captured the leads who want it, you’ll need a way to deliver it. To do this, you’ll need an email marketing system like Convert Kit, MailChimp, Infusionsoft, Active Campaign, etc.

Pick one to use to deliver the offer and create a follow up sequence to nurture your readers.

You can also use this email system to send out your content if you don’t have a website! You can send a video you post on Youtube or the content you’d put in a blog – without a website!

#4 Find people

Pick one social media platform to create an audience with it.

If you already have a blog and website, use Pinterest! There is nothing like Pinterest for getting blog traffic so use it. I highly recommend Melyssa Griffin’s program, Pinfinite Growth (affiliate link) if you’re interested in learning more about how to use Pinterest.

If you don’t have a website yet, focus on something like Instagram. It’s one of the best places to go to create an audience using hashtags, challenges, and opt in offers.

What about Facebook? This works best if you’re going to start a free Facebook group to grow your audience or if you’re planning to run Facebook ads.

But don’t forget it all starts with a super strong opt in! Without that opt-in, none of the system will work.

Grab your copy of Create the Perfect Opt In here: